Updated: Bristol robotics firm inspires local school children with humanoid robot

Pepper, the four foot laughing, dancing and talking humanoid robot (pictured right) has been on his first tour around a lucky Bristol school this month, inspiring the next generation of robotics engineers.

Behind the humanoid, humans from GWS Robotics, a robotic application development agency based in Bristol arranged for Pepper to visit Shipham First School to interact with year 3 and 4 pupils (ages 7-9) as part of a course on what robots are and how they are used and programmed.

“I hope [Pepper] will help inspire more children to go into robot programming, which is a growing industry”

The robot, which is trained to ‘understand’ emotions, has worked in hospitals, companies, schools and homes in Japan. But it has only recently become available in the UK.

Inspiring robotics

David Graves, creative director for GWS Robotics and its associated company GWS Media, says he hoped the visit would help encourage the next generation to learn more about the field of robotics.

Robo-dancing: the school children’s day with Pepper in full-swing

And he certainly made an impact on pupils, with one commenting: “It was great to meet Pepper. It was very funny to see him move and talk and to ask him a lot of questions. He was even able to dance and speak French.”

David adds: “It was a fun day for all involved. The children enjoyed chatting to Pepper and dancing along with him.

“They asked a lot of questions and were curious about what Pepper can do and how he works. I hope it will help inspire more children to go into robot programming, which is a growing industry.

“It was also an informative day about the uses of robots, which are set to be more widely available for the next generation.”

New friends:Pepper making an impression
on the class of Bristol school children

Class teacher Jo Dodd says: “The children really enjoyed seeing Pepper up close and having the chance to ask questions and interact.

“The children have been very excited and had great fun. It was a great opportunity to ask questions of the experts at GWS Robotics. I’m sure this is a day the children are going to remember.”

Involved in the tech community since her first meetup back in 2013, Alice came on board as TechSPARK's Assistant Editor in 2014 and was promoted to Editor in 2018. She loves a good tech conference and has covered both local and international events over the years. She is also a sucker for anything that uses tech to do good in the world.
In her spare time she can usually be found exploring the great outdoors or taking part in some sort of ridiculous sporting challenge.